"This vote reaffirms the commitment by a majority of Tarrant County Republicans to our core values and moral compass, a demonstration of our allegiance to the Texas Republican Party Platform and the Constitutions of the United States and Texas, which strictly prohibit religious and racial discrimination of any kind," Tarrant County Republican Party Chair Darl Easton said in a written statement provided to The Associated Press.

Shafi told reporters outside the meeting following the vote, "As we struggled through the last few months, it would have been easy for me to quit, but I stayed on to fight. We were fighting for religious freedom ... and today we have come out victorious."

WFAA

A supporter outside called for Shahid Shafi not to be ousted from the Tarrant County GOP. A vote was held Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, and Shafi was not removed, despite a fellow member's calls to do so over him being Muslim.

Shafi was appointed to the role by the county GOP chairman in July and his appointment was overwhelmingly ratified by the group’s precinct chairs, but Jeremy Bradford, the group’s executive director, told ABC News that there was a vocal vote of dissent placed by Dorrie O’Brien.

Bradford said that O’Brien later put forward the motion to have him removed from his position.

"She has publicly said it is based on his faith and the fact that he’s a Muslim," Bradford told ABC News.

"We don’t think he’s suitable as a practicing Muslim to be vice chair because he’d be the representative for ALL Republicans in Tarrant County, and not ALL Republicans in Tarrant County think Islam is safe or acceptable in the U.S., in Tarrant County, and in the TCGOP," O’Brien recently posted on Facebook, according to the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. "There are big questions surrounding exactly where Dr. Shafi’s loyalties lie."

As for Shafi, Bradford described him as "a known commodity" who has been a part of the county GOP for 10 years.

"He’s a good person," Bradford said of Shafi. "He has a heart for reaching out to parts of our community that aren’t typically part of the Republican fold."

A number of high profile Texas Republicans have supported Shafi publicly, including Sen. Ted Cruz and Texas land commissioner George P. Bush, who have condemned the religious discrimination that they see at hand in this case.

Discrimination against Dr. Shafi b/c he’s Muslim is wrong. The Constitution prohibits any religious test for public office & the First Amendment protects religious liberty for every faith. The Party of Lincoln should welcome everybody & celebrate Liberty. https://t.co/Z16lst3SJN

I again urge my friends in the Tarrant County Republican Party to do the right thing and vote to support Shahid Shafi as vice chairman of the party. Religious litmus tests are wrong--whether they occur in my party or whether its Democratic Senators who have questioned https://t.co/3dpWgxl6kz

Bradford also stressed the impact that the situation has had on the group and their goals.

"Honestly it’s frustrating," Bradford said of the attention that the vote has received. "We would very much like to be focused on raising money and getting ready for the presidential election cycle. This has been a major distraction for our party."

CComments

Liz Leyden

2019-01-13T20:08:09

In my area, a successful small business owner who was also an immigrant from Pakistan ran for a local office as a Republican. He lost. Before he ran agaon, he switched parties, saying he realized the party had no place and no support for people like him.

An upstanding citizen that has been involved in local politics for quite a while AND a trauma surgeon. Maybe those racists would rethink things when they are laying on an operating table with their life, or the lives of their children, being dependant on his knowledge, ability, professional dedication, and being a fellow human being.

I was actually heartened by this story. The vast majority of TX GOP was right on point in supporting religious freedom without being hypoccritical about WHICH religion. Good on all of them! My impression of the GOP has been the vote would be the other way around.

I just don't understand why more GOP don't meet Democrats in the middle on things like this. We do NOT support jihadism (I firmly believe that once ANY form of religion starts to teach ANY kind of VIOLENCE, it should no longer be recognized or protected as a religion; it should in fact be investigated, exposed and eradicated.) But there are hundreds of millions of Muslims that practice the peaceful religion of Islam.

So many in the past have acted like we are satan ourselves for defending religious freedom of Muslims and other non-christian religions. We are just patriots who believe in the American principles that founded this great nation. I am just so glad to see so many Texas Republicans showing the same patriotism!

A good percentage of physicians that practice in our country are Muslim. I think people need to get a grip on their issues with the Muslims in our country. Most Muslims in our country are hard working, intelligent, and compassionate people. Judge people on their character not their religion!

This is very encouraging. Moderates in both parties are rejecting the extremists and moving toward the center. We are seeing more Mormons in the Democratic party and more Muslims in the Republican party. People are growing weary of anger and sarcasm and we are beginning to reach out to each other to find common ground. Some will be threatened by this change and express anger and cynicism but that's only to be expected. Keep it up!